MADIKERI: Second Monnangeri village , virtually deserted after landslides struck since August 16, has an eerie look. Amid mist enveloping trees reduced to stumps and muddy water gushing everywhere, solitary people walk across makeshift bridges with a lost look in their eyes. And there is the overhanging smell of rotting cattle carcasses.“A massive landslide occurred just few feet from my house last week. We ran from the village and reached Madikeri after trekking through forests,” recollects Savithri, a local resident. Relief teams only recently entered second Monnangeri, one of the worst-affected villages in the taluk.Narayana, in his 70s, trekked through the slush in new shoes given to him at the relief centre. He was carrying feed for cattle left behind in the village with no one to look after them. “I don’t know if my house is still there. I cannot reach there as the path is blocked by landslides which haven’t been cleared yet,” he said. While the highway close to the village is being restored, there is no sign of relief work at the village itself, he said.Once in two days, villagers who fled trek back over 6km, through steep and slippery paths, to feed their cattle and take a look at their houses. But they harbour little hope of ever returning to their past lives.The landslide that began from one of the resorts at Nishane Motte hills virtually washed off the village. Water the colour of red mud flows through the estates with a muted fury. Approach roads to the village have been destroyed completely walking paths are strewn with cattle carcasses, half eaten by dogs. Locals helplessly say the cattle died due to hypothermia. Walking through the forests and crossing the makeshift bridge standing in place of a concrete bridge that was washed off, this is the sight they come to see every other day.“The bridge has been washed off and connectivity to the village is lost. While younger people walked uphill and reached a safe spot, the older people were stranded in the village,” said Poovaiah, one of the villagers. The head count is only beginning and locals are fearing the worst. For now, all they can do is visit the village that will probably never be.HELLISH PICTURE: Second Monnangeri village is perhaps the worst hit in the devastation in Kodagu. Villagers trek home through forest and makeshift bridges once in two days to feed their cattleTWO WEEKS ON, BODY FOUND BURIED IN LANDSLIDE DEBRISThe body of 62-year-old Mukkatira Sabu Uthappa was recovered under landslide debris at Muvathoklu village in Somwarpet taluk on Monday. NDRF and other forces had conducted four rounds of search operations in vain. Uthappa’s body was found as police and local villagers were clearing the debris with an earthmover. MLA Appachu Ranjan handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to Uthappa’s widow, Thangamma, who is an anganawadi teacher. The couple have two sons. Meanwhile, 560 victims sheltered at Lakshinarasimha convention hall at Madikeri were shifted to the government-managed Valmiki Bhavan in Kushalnagar. Many had returned home or gone to relatives’ places, officials in charge of shelters said. Some were sent to relief centres in Kushalnagar and Suntikoppa in Somwarpet taluk as some 10 buildings serving as relief centres are required for other purposes.

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